Why Australia is the best in ODI finals, and India the worst

[indianmaratha]

Why Australia is the best in ODI finals, and India the worst

[color=blue:h0dyuh45]The Australians struggled more than they normally do in the DLF Cup - primarily due to their penchant for experimentation - but in the end normal service was resumed as they romped to their 18th win out of 22 matches in finals of one-day tournaments involving three or more teams over the last seven years. The Aussie juggernaut is a formidable one at normal times, but when the stakes get higher, they bring out a facet that is only the preserve of champions, lifting their game to an even higher level. The ruthless manner in which they demolished West Indies by 127 runs at Kuala Lumpur wasn't a one-off: in the last two World Cup finals, for example, they were so utterly dominant that the games were as good as over even before the half-way stage.

The List had earlier this week looked at players who come to the party in knockout matches; The Numbers Game analyses how teams as a whole handle the pressure in tournament finals. The tables below list the performances of the top eight teams in ODI finals since June 1999.[/color:h0dyuh45]

[color=orange:h0dyuh45]
[u:h0dyuh45][b:h0dyuh45]Teams in ODI finals since June 1999[/b:h0dyuh45] [/u:h0dyuh45]
[b:h0dyuh45] Team Matches Won Lost/ tied/NR Win % [/b:h0dyuh45]
Australia 22 18 2/ 1/ 1 81
New Zealand 6 4 2/ 0/ 0 67
Sri Lanka 19 11 6/ 0/ 2 57
South Africa 11 6 4/ 0/ 1 54
Pakistan 21 8 12/ 0/ 1 38
West Indies 12 4 7/ 0/ 1 33
Zimbabwe 3 1 2/ 0/ 0 33
England 8 2 5/ 1/ 0 25
India 19 1 14/ 0/ 4 5 [/color:h0dyuh45]


[color=blue:h0dyuh45]Australia's record is outstanding, while India are a distant last with a shockingly dismal success rate of 5% (though optimists will point out that India have at least played 19 final games, only three fewer than Australia).

The next couple of tables attempt to analyse how the batsmen and bowlers handle the pressure of a final - does the big occasion gee them up to play above their normal standards, or does it act as a weight which bogs them down? Australia's batsmen clearly relish the big stage, but the same can't be said of the South African, Indian or Pakistani batsmen, who score more runs, and at a quicker rate, in the lead-up matches than in the finals.[/color:h0dyuh45][/quote:h0dyuh45]

http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/columns ... 60766.html

 

[pal]

Why Australia is the best in ODI finals, and India the worst

We probably deserve that chokers tag more than South Africa, but I hope India changes that in the World Cup or atleast the Champions Trophy.

 

[anish_vince]

Why Australia is the best in ODI finals, and India the worst

yes, we are the chokerz... this is just SAD.. after having the best batsman in the world with soo much experience, this is not tolerable...

hope the world cup brings something different, best of luck to india !